Shoe Sole Having Upwardly Sloped Front and Rear Sides

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a shoe sole having upwardly sloped front and rear sides, which is used to manufacture a shoe of which a rigid middle sole is installed at an upper surface of an outsole and a shoe sheath is attached to an upper surface of the middle sole, in which an arch-shaped groove is formed at the center of a lower surface of the outsole. A central cushion is attached to a lower surface of the arch-shaped groove so that the arch-shaped groove is filled with the central cushion. Non-slip sole attaching grooves are formed over the total lower surface of the outsole and an exposed surface of the central cushion. A non-slip sole is attached onto the non-slip sole attaching grooves.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a shoe sole having upwardly slopedfront and rear sides, which is used to manufacture a shoe of which arigid middle sole is installed at an upper surface of an outsole and ashoe sheath is attached to an upper surface of the middle sole, in whichan arch-shaped groove is formed at the center of a lower surface of theoutsole. More particularly, the present invention relates a shoe solecapable of preventing a user putting on the shoe from slipping duringgoing up the stairs due to the operation of a non-slip sole, which iscapable of allowing the user for feeling at ease due to operation ofcushion materials, and which is capable of firmly attaching a bottomsurface of a shoe sheath to the upper surface of the outsole due tooperation of projecting attaching parts, by attaching a non-slip soleonto the total bottom surface of the outsole after inserting a cushionmaterials into the arch-shaped groove formed at the lower surface of theoutsole, by allowing the upper surface of the outsole to expose theoutside of the upper surface of the middle sole, and by attachingcushion materials to a front and a rear sides of the upper surface ofthe middle sole.

BACKGROUND ART

This is the case of patent KR 10-2004-0108870 for example, which relatesto a walking shoe having a rear balance walking function, includingupwardly slanted front and rear sides, which has double grounding heelsprojecting from the center of an outsole toward the heel of the shoe. Arigid auxiliary outsole of which a stainless plate is inserted betweenplastics is mounted to the upper surface of the outsole. Due to thisstructure, the toe portion and the heel portion are slanted upwards withcentering on the double grounding heels. The toe portion and the heelportion can move up and down with taking the double grounding heels as apoint of action.

The outsole of the walking shoe according to the prior art is made of asoft foam polyurethane and thereby it has a cushion effect. A rigidauxiliary outsole made of a rigid plastic plate is mounted to the uppersurface of the outsole. A shoe sheath is attached to the upper surfaceof the rigid auxiliary outsole.

Generally, the rigid auxiliary outsole made of a rigid plastic plate maybe easily adhered to the upper surface of the outsole made of soft foampolyurethane by means of adhesives. Likewise, the shoe sheath made ofleather, synthetic leather or a fabric paper, etc., may be easilyadhered to the upper surface of the outsole made of soft foampolyurethane by means of adhesives. A disadvantage of prior art shoesole is that the rigid auxiliary outsole made of a rigid plastic platemay be hardly adhered to the shoe sheath made of a leather, a syntheticleather or a fabric paper, etc.

Although, the lower surface of the rigid auxiliary outsole made of arigid plastic plate can be easily attached to the upper surface of theoutsole made of soft foam polyurethane by means of adhesives, the uppersurface of the rigid auxiliary outsole may be hardly attached to thebottom surface of the shoe sheath during the manufacturing process ofthe shoe.

In order to enhance the adhesive force between the bottom surface of theshoe sheath and the upper surface of the rigid auxiliary outsole, anadditional fabric paper is attached to the upper surface of the rigidauxiliary outsole and thereafter the shoe sheath is mounted thereto.However, the fabric paper that is attached to the upper surface of therigid auxiliary outsole comes off there from as time passes. As aresult, a nerve-racking noise may be generated when a user walks on astreet with putting on the shoe. Consequently, it gives an unpleasantfeeling to the user.

Meanwhile, in the outsole of the walking shoe according to the priorart, the arch-shaped double grounding heels projecting from the centerof the outsole toward the heel of the shoe are integrally formed withthe outsole. Accordingly, they are made of soft foam polyurethane, whichis the same as that of the outsole.

If a user goes upstairs with putting on the shoe, the toe portion of theoutsole steps on a flat ground at the stair and the center portion ofthe lower surface of the outsole contacts with the corner of the stair.

In this situation, the arch-shaped portion of the lower surface of theoutsole according to the prior art may be contacted with the corner ofthe stair. Then, the user may slip and fall on the stairs owing to aslip between the corner of the stair and the arch-shaped portion made offoam polyurethane.

Another disadvantage of shoes having such outsole according to the priorart is that the user putting on the shoe may slip and fall on an unpavedroad such as a mountain path. That is, if a use putting on the shoeaccording to the prior art walks on an unpaved road such as a mountainpath, he or she may step a piece of stone at the arched-shaped portionof the sole of the foot. Then, the user may slip and fall on the roadowing to a slip between the stone and the arch-shaped portion made offoam polyurethane. Furthermore, the user feels a pain while he or shesteps a piece of stone at the arched-shaped portion of the sole of thefoot.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve theabove-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, an object of thepresent invention is to provide a shoe sole capable of preventing a userputting on the shoe from slipping during going up the stairs or walkingon an unpaved road due to the operation of a non-slip sole, which iscapable of allowing the user for feeling at ease due to operation ofcushion materials, and which is capable of firmly attaching a bottomsurface of a shoe sheath to the upper surface of the outsole due tooperation of projecting attaching parts, by attaching a non-slip soleonto the total bottom surface of the outsole after inserting a cushionmaterials into the arch-shaped groove formed at the lower surface of theoutsole, by allowing the upper surface of the outsole to expose theoutside of the upper surface of the middle sole, and by attachingcushion materials to a front and a rear sides of the upper surface ofthe middle sole.

Technical Solution

To accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a shoesole, of the type consisting of an arch-shaped groove formed at a centerportion of a bottom surface of an outsole, a front side and a rear sideof the bottom surface of the outsole being sloped upwardly from thearch-shaped groove, a middle sole made of a rigid material attached toan upper surface of the outsole, characterized in that it comprises acentral cushion attached to a lower surface of the arch-shaped groove sothat the arch-shaped groove is filled with the central cushion, non-slipsole attaching grooves formed over the total lower surface of theoutsole and an exposed surface of the central cushion, and a non-slipsole attached onto the non-slip sole attaching grooves. The shoe solefurther comprises a front cushion attached to the front upper surface ofthe middle sole and a rear cushion attached to the rear upper surface ofthe middle sole. The shoe sole further comprises a middle sole insertiongroove formed over the upper surface of the outsole, in which the middlesole insertion groove has a shape corresponding to that of the middlesole and has a depth corresponding to the thickness of the middle sole,a sheath lower surface attaching part formed at an inner circumferentialportion of a projection edge, front and rear projecting attaching partslongitudinally formed at front and rear bottom surfaces in the middlesole insertion groove, front and rear cutaway portions formed throughthe front and rear bottom surfaces on the middle sole, in which thefront and the rear projecting attaching parts pass through the front andthe rear cutaway portions upwards while the middle sole is attached tothe outsole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may berealized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in thewritten description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a shoe sole according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the shoe sole according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line “A-A” shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line “B-B” shown in FIG. 2.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the shoe sole having upwardly sloped front and rear sidesaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will beexplained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawingsFIGS. 1 to 4.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the shoe sole having upwardly sloped front andrear sides according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is provided with an arch-shaped groove 11 formed at a centerportion of a bottom surface of the outsole 10. A front side and a rearside of the bottom surface of the outsole 10 are sloped upwardly fromthe arch-shaped groove 11. A middle sole 20 made of a rigid material isattached to an upper surface of the outsole 10. A shoe sheath 30 isattached onto an upper surface of the middle sole 20.

A central cushion 12 is attached to a lower surface of the arch-shapedgroove 11 so that the arch-shaped groove 11 is filled with about a halfof the central cushion 12. The other half of the central cushion 12 maybe exposed to the outside of the outsole 10. Non-slip sole attachinggrooves 13 are formed over the total lower surface of the outsole 10 andthe exposed surface of the central cushion 12. A non-slip sole 14 isattached over the exposed bottom surface of the outsole 10 and theexposed surface of the central cushion 12 in cooperation with thenon-slip sole attaching grooves 13.

Preferably, the central cushion 12 is formed at a level, which is thesame as that of an assumed line (=a single-dotted line) projecting fromone distal end to the other distal end of the arch-shaped groove 11, for“a” section as shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively, the other half of thecentral cushion 12 can be bulged out downwards in a manner that it doesnot hinder a person putting on the shoe from walking.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a middle sole insertion groove 15 is formedover the upper surface of the outsole 10. The middle sole insertiongroove 15 has a predetermined shape corresponding to the shape of themiddle sole 20. Also, the middle sole insertion groove 15 has apredetermined depth corresponding to the thickness of the middle sole20. A sheath lower surface attaching part 17 is formed at an innercircumferential portion of a projection edge 16. Front and rearprojecting attaching parts 18, 19 are longitudinally formed at front andrear bottom surfaces in the middle sole insertion groove 15. Front andrear projecting attaching parts 18, 19 project from the upper surface ofthe middle sole 20 in the middle sole insertion groove 15 at a height,which is the same as that of the sheath lower surface attaching part 17.

As shown in FIG. 2, front and rear projecting attaching parts 18, 19project upwards at front and rear sides of the middle sole insertiongroove 15 and they are spaced apart from the sheath lower surfaceattaching part 17. When the shoe sheath 30 is attached onto the middlesole 20, front and rear projecting attaching parts 18, 19 have functionto increase a contact area between the shoe sheath 30 and the middlesole 20.

The middle sole 20 may be injection molded from a suitable rigid plasticmaterial. The bottom surface of the middle sole 20 is attached onto theupper surface of the outsole 10 of which the central portion isrelatively lower than the front and the rear sides. Since the front andthe rear sides of the outsole 10 are slanted upwards, the outsole 10 hasan arch shape in total. When a user puts on a shoe having the outsole 10made of soft foam polyurethane, the middle sole 20 prevents the frontand the rear sides of the outsole 10 from stretching downwards due tothe weight of the user.

In the meantime, a front cutaway portion 21 is formed through a frontside of the middle sole 20 and a rear cutaway portion 22 is formedthrough a rear side of the middle sole 20. When the middle sole 20 isattached to the outsole, the front and the rear projecting attachingparts 18, 19 pass through the front and the rear cutaway portions 21, 22upwards. A front cushion 23 is attached to the upper surface of themiddle sole 20 between the front projecting attaching parts 18.Likewise, a second cushion 24 is attached to the upper surface of themiddle sole 20 between the rear projecting attaching parts 19.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lower surface of the middle sole 20 is adheredto the upper surface of the outsole 10 by means of adhesives. The uppersurface of the middle sole 20 is adhered to a part of a lower surface ofthe shoe sheath 30 by means of adhesives. The other part of the lowersurface of the shoe sheath 30 is attached to the inner circumferentialsurface of the projecting edge 16, the sheath lower surface attachingpart 17, front and rear projecting attaching parts 18, 19 and front andrear cushions 23, 24.

At this time, except for the adhesive surfaces as described above, theupper surface of the middle sole 20 may be attached to the bottomsurface of the shoe sheath 30 by means of adhesives. Since the uppersurface of the middle sole 20 is made of a rigid plastic plate and thebottom of the shoe sheath 30 is made of leather, synthetic leather or afabric paper, etc., the adhesive force between the middle sole 20 andthe shoe sheath 30 is not good.

An inner sole is installed at an inside of the shoe sheath 30 and isindicated in its entirety by the reference numeral “31”. This inner sole31 is prepared by enclosing a stiff paper wick with a fabric paper.Alternatively, a certain material, which is the same as that of the shoesheath 30, can be used to form the inner sole 31 in a manner that itencloses the total bottom surface of the shoe sheath 30.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Having described shoe sole according to the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention in detail, the operational relationship of the shoesole can be understood as follows with reference to accompanyingdrawings FIGS. 1 to 4.

In order to manufacture the shoe sole according to the presentinvention, the central cushion 12 having a good cushion effect isadhered to the lower surface of the arch-shaped groove 11 formed at thecentral lower surface of the outsole 10 by means of adhesives. Then, thenon-slip sole 14 is adhered to over the non-slip attaching groove 13,which is formed at the total surface of the front and the rear sides inthe lower surface of the outsole 10, and to over the lower surface ofthe central cushion 12.

Since the non-slip sole 14 is typically made of a raw rubber and has aplurality of nonskid tread grooves formed at its bottom surface, it ispossible to prevent the shoe from slipping without damaging the shoe atthe change of season.

After attaching the non-slip sole 14 to the total lower surface of theoutsole 10, the middle sole 20 is inserted into the middle soleinsertion groove 15 formed at the upper surface of the outsole 10.

At this time, the front and the rear projecting attaching parts 18, 19protruding from the middle sole insertion groove 15 upwardly passthrough the front and the rear cutaway portions 21, 22 of the middlesole 20.

When the middle sole 20 is inserted and attached into the middle soleinsertion groove 15 of the upper surface of the outsole 10, the uppersurface of the sheath lower surface attaching part 17 is positioned at alevel, which is the same as those of the upper surface of the middlesole 20 and the upper surface of the front and the rear projectingattaching parts 18, 19. Because the size of the middle sole 20 issmaller than that of the outsole 10, the middle sole insertion groove 15is formed at a depth that is corresponding to the thickness of themiddle sole 20. At this time, the height of the front and the rearprojecting attaching parts 18, 19 is the same as that of the sheathlower surface attaching part 17.

Under this state, if the bottom surface of the shoe sheath 30 isattached to the upper surface of the outsole 10 on which the middle sole20 is adhered, a circumferential edge of a lower surface of the shoesheath 30 is attached to the inner surface of the projecting edge 16 andthe sheath lower surface attaching part 17 formed at the lowercircumferential edge of the projecting edge 16. In addition, the otherpart of circumferential edge of a lower surface of the shoe sheath 30 isattached to the upper surface of the upper surfaces of the front and therear projecting attaching parts 18, 19, which are exposed to the uppersurfaces of the front and the rear cutaway portions 21, 22 of the middlesole 20.

Since the shoe sheath 30 made of a leather, a synthetic leather or afabric paper, etc., is attached to the outsole 10 made of a soft foampolyurethane having a cushion effect by means of adhesives, the frontand the rear projecting attaching parts 18, 19 exposed to the uppersurfaces of the middle sole 20 are firmly adhered to the bottom surfaceof the shoe sheath 30.

When the bottom surface of the shoe sheath 30 is attached to the uppersurface of the outsole 10 on which the middle sole 20 is attached, ashoe manufacturer may worry about that the front and the rear cushionsadhered to the upper surface of the middle sole 20 between the front andthe rear projecting attaching parts 18, 19 are partially attached to theupper surface of the middle sole 20 and the bottom surface of the shoesheath 30, that is the inner sole 31 attached to the inner lower surfaceof the shoe sheath 30.

However, the portions on which the front and the rear cushions 23, 24are attached are adhered to the lower surface of the inner sole 31 thatis attached to the inner surface of the shoe sheath 30. Since the shoesheath 30 has a predetermined thickness and the front and the rearcushions 23, 24 are made of certain materials having a good cushioneffect such as a thin sponge having a thickness of 3 to 5 mm, EVA, etc.,the front and the rear cushions 23, 24 are compressed and adheredtogether with the vicinity thereof. At this time, the shoe sheath 30 isattached to the upper surface of the outsole 10 on which the middle sole20 is attached. The front and the rear cushions 23, 24 are attached tothe upper surface of the middle sole 20.

As described above, when the bottom surface of the shoe sheath 30 isattached to the upper surface of the middle sole 20, a fabric paper isattached to the upper surface of the middle sole 20 so as to make themiddle sole 20 made of a plastic material adhere to the bottom surfaceof the shoe sheath 30.

According to the present invention, the shoe sole is made of arelatively soft material and the central portion of the lower surface ofthe shoe sole is bulged out downwards. Furthermore, the front and therear sides of the shoe sole are slanted upwards and the flat and rigidmiddle sole 20 is installed on the upper surface of the shoe sole. If auser walks on a street with putting on the shoe on which the shoe soleis installed, the front and the rear sides of the shoe are spaced fromthe ground upwards and only the central portion is contacted with theground.

At this time, the front and the rear sides of the shoe have a tendencyto droop downwards, the toe and the heel have a tendency to get bentdownwards because the rigid middle sole 20 supports the weight of theuser. And the central portion has a tendency to get bent upwards and anoppressive feeling is transmitted to the total sole of the foot, andthereby the user can feel the finger-pressure effect. However, if theuser puts on the shoe for a long time, he or she has a pain.

According to the present invention, it is possible to attenuate theoppressive feeling and to alleviate the pain applied to the sole of thefoot due to operation of the central cushion 12 installed at the lowersurface of the outsole 10 and the front and the rear cushions 23, 24installed at the front and the rear sides of the upper surface of themiddle sole 20.

The non-slip sole 14 for preventing the shoe from slipping is installedat the total surface of the lower surface of the sole according to thepresent invention. Accordingly, when a user walks on a street withputting on the shoe, he or she does not slip although stepping on acertain object.

If a person goes upstairs with putting on a shoe, the central lowerportion of the sole of the foot contacts with a corner portion of thestair. A plurality of shoes according to the prior art are not providedwith non-slip means at the central lower portion of the sole of thefoot. Accordingly, if a person goes upstairs with putting on the shoeaccording to the prior art, he or she may slip on the stairs. Since theshoe according to the present invention is provided with the non-slipsole 14 at the total surface of the sole of the foot, it is possible toprevent the user from slipping on the stairs.

If a person walks on an unpaved road such as a mountain path, he or shemay step a piece of stone at a certain part of the sole of the foot.Since the shoe according to the present invention is provided with thenon-slip sole 14 at the total surface of the sole of the foot, it ispossible to prevent the user from slipping on the unpaved road.

Meanwhile, in the shoe sole according to the present invention, a partof the central cushion is bulged out downwards and the front and therear sides of the outsole are upwardly slanted. If the shoe is hangingin the air, then the gravity is applied to the toe and the heel of theshoe due to this structure. At this time, the center of gravity of aperson putting on the shoe is leaning to the rear side and thereby it ispossible to activate the muscle relative to walking due to the rearbalance.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the shoe sole according to the present invention iscapable of preventing a user putting on the shoe from slipping duringgoing up the stairs due to the operation of a non-slip sole, which iscapable of allowing the user for feeling at ease due to operation ofcushion materials, and which is capable of firmly attaching a bottomsurface of a shoe sheath to the upper surface of the outsole due tooperation of projecting attaching parts, by attaching a non-slip soleonto the total bottom surface of the outsole after inserting a cushionmaterials into the arch-shaped groove formed at the lower surface of theoutsole, by allowing the upper surface of the outsole to expose theoutside of the upper surface of the middle sole, and by attachingcushion materials to a front and a rear sides of the upper surface ofthe middle sole.

1-3. (canceled)
 4. A shoe sole, comprising: an outsole having a grooveformed in a bottom surface of the outsole, a front portion and a rearportion of the bottom surface of the outsole being sloped upwardly fromthe groove; a middle sole made of a rigid material mounted to a topsurface of the outsole; a central cushion disposed into the groove, thecentral cushion being configured to fill the groove; non-slip soleattaching grooves formed over the bottom surface of the outsole and anexposed surface of the central cushion; and a non-slip sole mounted tothe non-slip sole attaching grooves.
 5. The shoe sole of claim 4,including: a front cushion mounted to a front portion of a top surfaceof the middle sole; and a rear cushion mounted to a rear portion of thetop surface of the middle sole.
 6. The shoe sole of claim 4, wherein theoutsole includes a middle sole insertion recess formed over the topsurface of the outsole.
 7. The shoe sole of claim 6, wherein the middlesole insertion recess has a shape corresponding to that of the middlesole and has a depth corresponding to a thickness of the middle sole. 8.The shoe sole of claim 4, wherein the outsole includes: a projectionedge formed around a perimeter of the outsole; and a sheath attachmentsurface formed along an inner surface of the projection edge.
 9. Theshoe sole of claim 7, wherein the outsole includes front and rearprojections formed longitudinally over the top surface of the outsolewithin the middle sole insertion recess.
 10. The shoe sole of claim 9,wherein the middle sole includes front and rear cutaway portions formedin the middle sole, and wherein the front and the rear projections ofthe outsole penetrate into the front and the rear cutaway portions ofthe middle sole when the middle sole is attached to the outsole.
 11. Theshoe sole of claim 4, wherein the groove is arch-shaped and is formed ata center region of the outsole.